Specializations
PhD in Marketing
Students in this specialization can focus their research program on marketing analytics, marketing strategy, consumer Behaviour or consumer culture theory, while pursuing one of two tracks – Analytics or Behavioural.
Is this Specialization for you?
Discover how this program aligns with your academic or research oriented career goals. Request a virtual one-on-one meeting with a member of our program team.
Program Structure and Content
Each student is required to complete the following courses as well as a research project of publishable quality, present at our annual Smith Grad Student Consortium, comprehensive exams, and present at a research seminar in year 3.
Course offerings change from year to year. This sample stream is not reflective of a guaranteed curriculum but is instead an example of what a curriculum could look like in a given year. Please note the minimum requirement to complete a degree is 27 credits. Many of our area groups will exceed the minimum courses to satisfy job market needs in academia.
With supervisor approval, students can select MGMT specialization courses from other area groups. Electives can be any other MGMT course or a course from another department at the supervisor’s discretion.
Course descriptions are available on the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs website. Any non-MGMT courses are linked below.
Sample Marketing - Analytics Stream PhD Curriculum
| Course | Credits |
|---|---|
| Core | |
| MGMT 901 Research Foundations | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 993 Teaching and Learning in Management and Business | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 989 Major Research Project | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 994 Upper Year Research Presentation | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 999 PhD Thesis | Pass/Fail |
| Specialization – MGMT | |
| MGMT 940 Marketing Strategy and Management I | 1.5 |
| MGMT 941 Marketing Strategy and Management II | 1.5 |
| MGMT 942 Consumer Behaviour I | 1.5 |
| MGMT 943 Consumer Behaviour II | 1.5 |
| MGMT 944 Consumer Culture Theory I | 1.5 |
| MGMT 945 Quantitative Models for Marketing I | 1.5 |
| MGMT 946 Consumer Culture Theory II | 1.5 |
| MGMT 948 Quantitative Models for Marketing II | 1.5 |
| Electives – Supervisor Approved MGMT or Other Department | |
| ECON 850 Econometrics I (or other elective) | 3 |
| STAT 862 Statistical Learning I (or other elective) | 3 |
| Methods/Related Field | |
| MGMT 800/900 or Methods sub (at supervisor's discretion) | 3 |
| MGMT 988 Applied Statistics and Econometrics | 3 |
| MGMT 990 Econometrics Methods | 3 |
| Total Credits | 27 |
Examples of possible electives from other departments for the Marketing - Analytics specialization include:
- ECON 846 Industrial Organization
- STAT 855 Stochastic Processes and Applications
- STAT 856 Bayesian Analysis
- CISC 867 Deep Learning
Sample Marketing – Behavioural Stream PhD Curriculum
| Course | Credits |
|---|---|
| Core | |
| MGMT 901 Research Foundations | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 993 Teaching and Learning in Management and Business | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 989 Major Research Project | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 994 Upper Year Research Presentation | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 999 PhD Thesis | Pass/Fail |
| Specialization – MGMT | |
| MGMT 940 Marketing Strategy and Management I | 1.5 |
| MGMT 941 Marketing Strategy and Management II | 1.5 |
| MGMT 942 Consumer Behaviour I | 1.5 |
| MGMT 943 Consumer Behaviour II | 1.5 |
| MGMT 944 Consumer Culture Theory I | 1.5 |
| MGMT 945 Quantitative Models for Marketing I | 1.5 |
| MGMT 946 Consumer Culture Theory II | 1.5 |
| MGMT 948 Quantitative Models for Marketing II | 1.5 |
| Electives – Supervisor Approved MGMT or Other Department | |
| PSYC 802 Introduction to Multivariate Analysis (or other elective) | 3 |
| PSYC 944 Attitudes and Attitude Change (or other elective) | 3 |
| Methods/Related Field | |
| MGMT 800 Statistics I | 3 |
| MGMT 900 Statistics II | 3 |
| MGMT 902 Qualitative Research Method Design | 1.5 |
| MGMT 903 Experimental Research Method Design | 1.5 |
| MGMT 904 Survey Research Method Design | 1.5 |
| Total Credits | 28.5 |
Examples of possible electives from other departments for the Marketing - Behavioural specialization include: